Health and Nutrition

What is a "healthy diet"

The Dietary Guidelines describe a healthy diet as one that:

Emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products
Includes lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts
Is low in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt (sodium), and added sugars

Consume a sufficient amount of fruits and vegetables while staying within energy needs. Two cups of fruit and two and one half cups of vegetables per day are recommended for a reference 2,000-calorie intake, with higher or lower amounts depending on the calorie level.
Choose a variety of fruits and vegetables each day. In particular, select from all five vegetable subgroups (dark green, orange, legumes, starchy vegetables, and other vegetables) several times a week.
Consume three or more ounce-equivalents of whole-grain products per day, with the rest of the recommended grains coming from enriched or whole-grain products. In general, at least half the grains should come from whole grains.
Consume three cups per day of fat-free or low-fat milk or equivalent milk products.

Choose salads or fruit/vegetables instead of french fries.
Choose water over soda.
Remove the breading off of fried chicken before you eat it.
Ask for low-cal or fat free reduced dressing.
Order smaller lunches when you're out to eat. Save half of your dinner or lunch for tomorrow.
Ask for ketchup, BBQ, salsa or mustard instead of your favorite dipping sauce.
Look for healthy choices menus at restaurants.

Eat breakfast: skipping breakfast makes it harder to sustain blood sugar levels throughout the day.
Try green tea instead of coffee: caffeine is hard on your body and green tea has a lot of antioxidants.
Keep healthy snacks around like granola or trail mix.
If you eat when your stressed try carrot sticks, celery sticks or popcorn (without the butter and salt!).
Do not drink caffeine after 2 p.m., caffeine stays in your system for six hours after you drink it and will not allow you to sleep well.
Changing stressful eating behaviors by doing yoga, write in a journal, exercise, laughing and meditation.

Improves your chances of living longer and living healthier
Helps protect you from developing heart disease or its precursors, high blood pressures and high cholesterol
Helps protect you from developing certain cancers, including colon and breast cancer
Helps prevent or control type two diabetes (what was once called adult-onset diabetes)
Helps prevent the insidious loss of bone known as osteoporosis
Reduces the risk of falling among older adults
Relieves symptoms of depression and anxiety and improves mood
Controls weight

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends 30 minutes of activity most days of the week.

Go for a 15-30 minute walk outside with a friend on your lunch break or in the afternoon.
Take the stairs up and down in buildings instead of the elevator.
Go dancing.
Take a yoga or pilate's class two or three times a week.
Do crunches or sit ups while watching TV.
Clean your closet or room that is in desperate need of cleaning or dusting.

United States Department of Agriculture: USDA

Bradley University's Health Services is located in the Markin Family Recreational Center and their phone number is 309-677-2700.